Threading Building Blocks (TBB) Math Kernel Library (MKL)

Math Kernel Library (MKL)

The Math Kernel Library is a high-performance, parallel computing math library that includes many useful scientific and engineering functions. Because the key here is performance, vectorization, and multicore, many of these functions deal with large amounts of data. Examples include vectors (as in mathematical vectors) and fast Fourier transforms (FFT). Additionally, several of the libraries within the Math Kernel Library are implementations of standard math libraries, but modified for multicore and vectorized programming.

Threading Building Blocks (TBB)

Threading Building Blocks, or TBB, is a C++ template library that provides a wide array of algorithms and classes to simplify multicore parallel programming.

Conclusion

Composer XE deals with the coding aspect of your parallel development. It consists of the compiler and related libraries. And you can use it without Visual Studio. I often do for short test projects; in such cases, I’ll create a text file with C++ code and just run the compiler itself from the command prompt. With the correct header files and linker options, the compiler will build the code and product an executable – all without Visual Studio.

Note also that Composer is available as a separate product for purchase if you don’t need the additional parts of Parallel Studio. But you’ll most certainly want those other parts. I’ll describe them in the next blog.